I’ve been wanting to write about Pennebaker’s “healing powers of expressive writing” ever since Isobel left a tantalizing link in a comment back in April.

Since my energies and brain-power wax and wane, I’ve been waiting to be ready to write an informative post. Ain’t gonna happen. The being ready. Why wait to share? (As it is, I am struggling here….)

To get started, go read the short article, please, linked in the next paragraph. For more information, see below at “more info.”

“For nearly 20 years, Dr. James W. Pennebaker has been giving people an assignment: write down your deepest feelings about an emotional upheaval in your life for 15 or 20 minutes a day for four consecutive days. Many of those who followed his simple instructions have found their immune systems strengthened. Others have seen their grades improved. Sometimes entire lives have changed.”

As regular readers know, illness has changed my abilities in reading and comprehension. The good news is that back in May when I was still mired in bad muck, I could understand the intent and instructions in Pennebaker’s assignment. No special writing ability is necessary. Note the wisdom about being ready to write about a particular moment. Smart.

I printed out the two callouts from that first link to use as my instructions.

Share the brilliance!

Like this:

Being afraid of the dark is a primal response, but one we in our Western culture have outgrown. The fear we’re left with is the fear of our own darkness, of the hidden words and pictures. We do everything we can to keep that darkness from reaching the light, and always in the form of running hard, physically and mentally.

Being afraid to stop is the hint that we have something left to show ourselves, something to complete so that it can be removed from the inventory of darkness.

Why do we fear being still? Being quiet? It’s not as if velociraptors are going to chew off our faces as we sit. Be still with memory, allow it to come, knowing that the whole of you will hold the memories and will gently integrate them.

The words, too, will show themselves. But we have to remove the blocking wall of darkness first.

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